45 nations Bonn-homie over climate talks

NEW DELHI: For three days, beginning Sunday, environment ministers from 45 countries will meet in Bonn for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. This is the first major ministerial meeting to be held since the Copenhagen climate change conference and is aimed at "building momentum for Mexico".

As with the Major Economies Forum, the efforts is to resolve or narrow down differences on key and contentious elements of a climate deal. The meeting will focus on six broad issues — long-term goal, mitigation and measurement, reporting, verification (MRV), adaptation, finance, technology co-operation and reducing emissions from deforestation plus (REDD plus).

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is the outcome of German chancellor Angela Merkel's proposal for a high level meeting to discuss issues that were left unresolved at Copenhagen. To ensure broader acceptance, the dialogue is being co-hosted by Mexico, which holds the presidency for COP 16. With Germany driving the agenda for the meeting, the European Union can be expected to push for a 50% global reduction in emission by 2050. This long-term goal is unlikely to take into considerations of equity sharing or providing for finance and technology to developing countries to achieve this reduction. The EU is likely to concentrate on the issues of finance and MRV of mitigation actions.

For developing countries, particularly India and the other BASIC countries, the effort would be achieve the Bali balance. At the 2007, Bali conference the EU made common cause with developing countries, isolating the US, leading to the adoption of the Bali Action Plan. This would mean pushing the EU to take on an unconditional 30% emission reduction goal, move on mobilising $10 billion fast track finance, and take the lead in counterbalancing or engaging the US.

In the discussion on mitigation and MRV, the BASIC countries are likely to put forward the idea of an international reporting format for externally supported mitigation action. It is also likely to stress that there should be no reprimand for developing countries should they fail to meet goals, opting instead for facilitation by developed countries to meet the goals. Facilitation would require developed countries to provide finance, technology and capacity building assistance to developing countries. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh recently addressed the MEF on the issue of MRV can be expected to stress that as per the Copenhagen Accord, industrialised countries are subject to measuring, reporting and verification for emission reduction targets, and finance.

Taking the technology forward would mean revisiting the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR). At present, discussions on IPR have been kept out of the purview, limiting the consensus on this issue to development of new technologies. The developing countries, in particular India, can be expected to stress on the deployment and diffusion of technology. This would require revisiting the IPR knot.

The Petersberg Dialogue aims to "present practical forms of climate co-operation in key areas". This meeting, which is outside of the UNFCCC's calendar, is informal in nature. The intent is to provide "a good framework", which allow environment ministers to "discuss pressing issues of international climate protection". In the joint invitation letter, Mexico's environment minister Juan Quesada and Germany's environment minister Norbert Rottgen write, "we hope that the Peterberg Climate Dialogue will be able to contribute to making progress in climate negotiations and to practical climate protection co-operation."